Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Pu-erh (Puer or Puerh) to me. She suggested I buy little bird's nest or touchas

at a local Chinese herbal shop. I was told it would help to lower my cholesterol.

Well I did start drinking it, but it felt like I was drinking dirt.

Gradually, because I told myself it was good for me, I acquired sort of a taste for dirt (it).

Then several years later I was invited to a tea tasting for Pu-erh

and my eyes were opened to the nuances and differences in a good Pu-erh

and I purchased my first bing (a solid, compressed round chunk of tea).

Yes, one Pu-erh does not mean they all taste the same.

Now I hear alot of talk about Pu-erh from tea friends, but for

some reason I haven't captured much of what there is to learn about this tea,
except to know what tastes good and what doesn't.

The tea in this photo is a bing of 2004 boiled Pu-erh from McIntosh Tea.

What I know is:

A true Pu-erh comes from Yunnan Province of China

Pu-erh is often aged

There are Raw and Ripened Pu-erh's,

now this is where it gets muddy to me.

So this post is for me as much as for you, to help get it right.

Wikipedia:
"Pǔ'ěr tea processing,
although straightforward, is complicated by the fact that the tea
itself falls into two distinct categories: the "raw" Sheng Cha and the
"ripe" Shu Chá. All types of pu-erh tea are created from máochá (毛茶), a mostly unoxidizedgreen tea processed from a "large leaf" variety of Camellia sinensis (C. sinensis assamica) found in the mountains of southern Yunnan.
Maocha can be sold directly to market as loose leaf tea, compressed
to produce "raw" Shēng Chá, naturally aged and matured for several years
before being compressed to also produce "raw" Shēng Chá or undergo Wo
Dui ripening for several months prior to being compressed to produce
"ripe" Shu Chá. While unaged and unprocessed, Máochá pǔ'ěr is similar to
green tea. Two subtle differences worth noting are that pǔ'ěr is not
produced from the small-leaf Chinese varietal but the broad-leaf
varietal mostly found in the southern Chinese provinces and India. The
second is that pǔ'ěr leaves are picked as one bud and 3-4 leaves whilst
green tea is picked as one bud and 1-2 leaves. This means that older
leaves contribute to the qualities of pǔ'ěr tea.
Ripened or aged raw pǔ'ěr has occasionally been mistakenly categorized as a subcategory of black tea
due to the dark red color of its leaves and liquor. However, pǔ'ěr in
both its ripened and aged forms has undergone secondary oxidization and fermentation caused both by organisms growing in the tea and free-radical
oxidation, thus making it a unique type of tea. This divergence in
production style not only makes the flavor and texture of pu-erh tea
different but also results in a rather different chemical makeup of the
resulting brewed liquor."

Most often I steep my Pu-erh tea in a gaiwan such as this.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.
I find the concept of Pu-erh to be intriguing in it's process
and aging dimensions. Often I tell friends that love coffee
that this tea would be a rich, full bodied transition into tea.
I hope sometime you give it a try.

About Me

Many things bring great delight to me: tea, gardens, flowers, outdoors, food, and friends that cross my path. These all make my heart sing with small chuckles, giggles, laughter, and tears. It is my desire to seek beauty all around me, have the heart of a wanderer, a storyteller.

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The Language of Flowers by Vanessa DiffenbaughA Fine Romance by Susan BranchTea Shop Mysteries by Laura ChildsLost Lake by Sarah Addison AllanThe House at Riverton by Kate MortonThe Secret Keeper by Kate MortonWithout Reservations by Alice SteinbachA Week in Winter by Marcia WillettEight Girls Taking Pictures by Whitney OttoTarnished Beauty by Cecilia SamartinThe Time in Between by Maria DuenasThe Orchid House by Lucinda RileyThe Lavender Garden by Lucinda RileyBroken Paradise by Cecilia SamartinKindred Spirits by Sarah StrohmeyerA Place at the Table by Susan Rebecca White

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